📉❓ Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress - and How to Bring It Back
📚 Book Report: 🤔 Why 🚫 Nothing ⚙️ Works: 🔪 Who Killed 📈 Progress - and 💡 How to Bring It Back
“Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress - and How to Bring It Back” by Marc Dunkelman 👨🏫 explores the reasons behind the perceived inability of the United States 🇺🇸 to undertake large-scale public projects 🏗️ and achieve significant progress 🚀, particularly from a progressive perspective. Dunkelman, a fellow at Brown University’s 🎓 Watson Institute, draws inspiration from the protracted failure 🤦 to replace the original Pennsylvania Station 🚂 in New York City 🏙️ as a vivid example of this stagnation 🐌.
🔑 Key Arguments
- 📉 The Decline of “Can-Do” America: 🇺🇸 The book argues that America has shifted from a nation capable of accomplishing ambitious infrastructure projects 🏗️ and public goods 🏘️ to one seemingly paralyzed by gridlock 🚦 and inaction 😶.
- 🤝 Progressivism’s Internal Conflict: 🕊️ Dunkelman posits that a core reason for this paralysis lies within the progressive movement itself. He identifies a historical tension ⚔️ between two impulses: a “Hamiltonian” desire to empower government 🏛️ and institutions to tackle large issues 🌐, and a “Jeffersonian” inclination towards diffusing responsibility and authority ⚖️ to prevent the abuse of power.
- 🚫 The Rise of “Vetocracy”: 🛑 The author contends that progressives, particularly since the 1960s 🗓️, have leaned too heavily into the Jeffersonian impulse, leading to a “vetocracy” where numerous groups and procedures 📝 can stall or block 🧱 projects. This focus on limiting government power 👮, driven by fears of an overreaching “Establishment,” has inadvertently rendered it ineffective in delivering public goods like affordable housing 🏘️, energy ⚡, and infrastructure 🏗️.
- ⚠️ Consequences of Inaction: 😔 The inability of government to effectively address pressing issues 📢 erodes public faith 🙏 in institutions and, perversely, can contribute to the rise of populist movements ✊ that promise to fix things unilaterally.
- 🗺️ Charting a Path Forward: 🧭 Dunkelman suggests that for progress to be restored 🚀, progressives must acknowledge where this strategy has gone wrong 🤕 and rediscover a balance ⚖️ that allows for effective governance 🏛️ and the capacity to build big things again 🏗️.
✍️ Structure and Style
The book uses historical analysis 📜 and political commentary 🗣️ to trace the evolution of progressive thought 🤔 and its impact on governmental capacity 🏛️. Dunkelman draws contrasts with earlier eras 👴, such as the time of Robert Moses 🏗️, to highlight the shift in approach to large-scale development 🏘️. The narrative is described as a political and historical meditation 🧘, offering an astute analysis of the challenges facing the US 🇺🇸 in areas like infrastructure 🏗️ and housing 🏘️. It is considered provocative 🌶️ and well-timed ⏰, aiming to help progressives overcome self-imposed obstacles 💪.
📚 Additional Book Recommendations
💭 Similar Themes (Critiques of Progress, Stagnation, Systems)
- 📚 How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future by Vaclav Smil: 🧑🔬 While Dunkelman focuses on political and ideological reasons for stagnation in the US 🇺🇸, Smil provides a data-driven 📊, systems-level analysis of the fundamental forces shaping the world 🌍, including energy ⚡, food production 🌾, and material flows. He often highlights the sheer scale and complexity 🤯 of global systems and the limitations of rapid transitions 🚀, offering a grounding perspective that can temper optimistic views on easy progress.
- 📚 Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil: 🕰️ A more in-depth historical look at how energy ⚡ has shaped human societies 🧑🤝🧑 and progress 🚀. This provides a deep historical context 🌳 for understanding the energy dependencies that underpin modern civilization 🏙️, a key aspect touched upon in discussions of infrastructure 🏗️ and industry 🏭 in “Why Nothing Works.”
- 📚 The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War by Robert J. Gordon: 📈 Argues that the period of rapid economic growth 💰 driven by the “special century” of innovation 💡 from 1870 to 1970 was unique ✨ and that future growth is likely to be slower 🐌. This book provides an economic perspective 💸 on the idea of slowing progress, complementing Dunkelman’s political analysis 🏛️.
- 🤝📈🇺🇸🔁 The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again by Robert Putnam: 🫂 Looks at trends in American life over the past century 🗓️, identifying a period of increasing solidarity 🙌 and then a decline 📉. While focused on social and civic life 🧑🤝🧑, it touches on the conditions that allowed for collective action 🤝 and progress 🚀 in the past, relevant to Dunkelman’s call for renewed capacity 💪.
💡 Contrasting Perspectives (Optimism, Technological Solutions)
- 📚 The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee: 🤖 Argues that digital technologies 💻 are driving a new era of rapid innovation 🚀 and transformation, leading to significant productivity gains 📈 and societal changes 🏙️. This provides a more techno-optimistic view 🤩 that contrasts with the stagnation thesis 🐌.
- 📚 Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler: 🌟 Presents a hopeful case for the future 🔮, arguing that technological advancements 💡 are making resources and opportunities more abundant globally 🌍. This offers a direct counterpoint to pessimistic views 😔 on the ability to solve major challenges 💪.
- 📚 The Coming Wave: AI, Power, Technology, and the Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Challenges by Mustafa Suleyman: 🌊 Explores the potential of AI 🤖 and other frontier technologies 🚀 to reshape society 🏙️, presenting both the opportunities and risks ⚠️. While acknowledging challenges 💪, it focuses on the transformative power of new technologies 💡, a contrast to the focus on systemic and political inertia 🐌.
🎨 Creatively Related Themes (History, Power, Creativity)
- 📚 The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro: 🏙️ A classic biography detailing the career of Robert Moses, a figure known for his ability to build massive infrastructure projects 🏗️, often by consolidating and wielding immense power 💪. This book provides a detailed historical example 📜 that serves as a point of contrast in Dunkelman’s analysis of how large projects were accomplished in a different era 👴.
- 🪖🎨 The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield: 🎨 While focused on individual creative struggles 🤔, this book’s exploration of resistance and overcoming internal obstacles 💪 can be creatively related to the broader societal and political inertia 🐌 discussed in “Why Nothing Works.” It offers a different lens 🔎 through which to consider the forces that prevent things from getting done 🚧.
- 🤔🐇🐢 Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: 🧠 Explores the two systems of thought 🤔 that drive the way we think 🤔. Understanding cognitive biases 🤔 and decision-making processes ⚖️ can offer insights into why political and societal progress 🚀 can be difficult to achieve 💪, providing a psychological layer to Dunkelman’s arguments. (Implicitly related to the complexities of navigating differing impulses and overcoming inertia).
- 📖🏛️📉 Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. Scott: 👀 Examines how state-led attempts to impose order and rationality 🏛️ on complex social and environmental systems 🌍 have often failed due to a lack of understanding of local knowledge and practices 🧑🌾. This provides a perspective on the challenges inherent in large-scale planning 🗺️ and intervention, relevant to the difficulties in executing big projects 🏗️. (Implicitly related to the challenges of centralized planning and the unintended consequences of well-intentioned policies).
💬 Gemini Prompt (gemini-2.5-flash-preview-04-17)
Write a markdown-formatted (start headings at level H2) book report, followed by a plethora of additional similar, contrasting, and creatively related book recommendations on Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress - and How to Bring It Back. Be thorough in content discussed but concise and economical with your language. Structure the report with section headings and bulleted lists to avoid long blocks of text.
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📉❓ Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress - and How to Bring It Back@MarcDunkelman
— Bryan Grounds (@bagrounds) July 14, 2025
🇺🇸 US Decline | 🏛️ Governmental Inaction | 🕊️ Progressive Movement | 🛑 Vetocracy | 🙏 Erosion of Faith | 🛣️ A Path Forwardhttps://t.co/mGwKT91xEn